Not again!

[Seanette]

This is why whenever we have a big clean out and have bags of things to donate we sort them into different coloured garbage bags. The charity ours goes to sells bags of rags made from things that aren't worth selling.

So black was for them to turn into rags, pink was everyday clothing and yellow was good and going out clothes. I think green was shoes and handbags.

When you have 14 big bags of items, it makes it so much easier for the staff to sort.

And donating cheap and nasty is pointless. Cheap and quality is better.

The sorting scheme sounds good, and your last paragraph is dead-on.

[RealUnimportant]

I love the extra layer of obliviousness that assumed any of the quoted prices was a reduction - when I go to the store for ingredients for chilli, does this mean I should be charged the cost of the meat minus the cost of the beans?!

[Seshat]

I'm one of the needy, and I do care.

Oh, sure, for 'around the house' wear, I'll wear what's practical. But I don't want to end up in a 'people of walmart' sort of page! When I'm out, I want to dress like a normal person, not a bag of rags.

Even when I'm home, unless I'm doing something messy, it's nicer to wear something that I feel like a human being in!

Besides, those of us at this level of needy aren't the ones bringing in money for St Vinnies or Lifeline or the Salvos. It's people one step up from me who can buy stuff at charity shops.

[greek_jester]

I find it odd that so many people want to go cheap when they donate anything. Or shoddy. I know someone who donates her used clothing to charity when it gets stained or torn. "The needy don't care."

I said, "What makes you think needy people want to wear stained, torn clothes? You don't." She didn't have an answer for that.

1) Yes, the needy do care. The needy would like to feel like normal human beings too, thank you so very much.
2) In my family we did donate our torn or stained clothing to charity; the charity my mother worked at as the manageress of the sorting warehouse. Any clothes that weren't saleable as they were (and weren't covered in something like blood which went straight in the skip) was bagged up and sold to the rag man for 50p a sack. That meant that 99.9% of the donated clothing, regardless of quality, made the charity money.

[Mondestrucken]

There is another community board I frequent in which there is a thread about people who assume that crafts/hobbies are easy, fast, cheap, and the hobbyist should be glad, glad, glad to give the stuff away.

I'll give gifts of my crafts to my family, but that is it. I pour too much of myself into my crafts to treat it so lightly.

[Slave to the Phone]

Every year, I hand make fabric calendars (with sequins and beads) for my favorite charity to sell at their annual charity auction. (They actually sell pretty well and always for more than my materials costs.)

I never tell people why I'm making them anymore because without fail, they want me to give them one as well. But, but, but...you are making them to give away! ARGH!!!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

1) Yes, the needy do care. The needy would like to feel like normal human beings too, thank you so very much.

This is why I roll my eyes at people who say the swamp should donate grocery items past their freshness date to charity.

If we don't want to sell it to paying customers, why would we want to give it away to a food bank? Wouldn't having to eat stale food make the needy feel even worse about their situation?

[Slave to the Phone]

I think I might be an outlier when it comes to thrift store blankets and towels. I look for the stained and frayed ones. This isn't because I'm going to ask for a discount on 50 cent towels, its because I volunteer for an animal rescue group and we use them for the animals. People who are going to use them for people uses will want the nice ones for their homes, cats and dogs don't care.

[Tama]

Irv, you'd be surprised what people will eat. Just check out the dumpster diving reddit board.

[taxguykarl]

My mom makes quilts for various charities. She would never dream of making one under the conditions on the OP.

[EvilEmpryss]

In reference to the OP's "customer", the one's I hate most are the ones who get something at a discount or even for free on the grounds of it being for charity, and then decide they like it too much to give away and just toss cash at the charity... usually nowhere near as much as the item is worth.

As for the food past its expiration: a lot of those dates have very little to do with food safety or freshness. As near as I can tell, it's the date after which the company won't guarantee freshness and won't give you your money back for it. It's often still perfectly edible and very tasty, depending of course on the actual item's condition. YMMV.

[KatherineB]

I think I might be an outlier when it comes to thrift store blankets and towels. I look for the stained and frayed ones. This isn't because I'm going to ask for a discount on 50 cent towels, its because I volunteer for an animal rescue group and we use them for the animals. People who are going to use them for people uses will want the nice ones for their homes, cats and dogs don't care.

You should bring the thrift store a letter from the animal rescue group. They may be willing (or happy) to give you the stained or frayed items they would otherwise have to pay to throw out since it means they will save money and be donating to a good cause themselves.

[notalwaysright]

As for the food past its expiration: a lot of those dates have very little to do with food safety or freshness.

I seem to remember hearing about a soup kitchen which had some kind of deal with a grocery store... So they get a lot of produce which is totally fine, but not pretty, right? They would donate it to the soup kitchen, since they were going to toss it anyway. This was a while ago, so it's possible that this type of thing no longer exists.

And thanks for reminding me, I still haven't brought my extra fleece to the animal shelter.

[Slave to the Phone]

You should bring the thrift store a letter from the animal rescue group. They may be willing (or happy) to give you the stained or frayed items they would otherwise have to pay to throw out since it means they will save money and be donating to a good cause themselves.

That is such a good idea, thank you. I know that they are selling their stuff for a good cause, so didn't want to ask for a discount...but I'd happily take the stuff they need to pay to throw out and wash it myself. Puppies don't seem to understand that if they rip their blankets up, they don't have anything soft to lay on.

Just so everyone knows how cheap I am when it comes to charities, in the summer, I buy up every non-tattered thrift store jacket or coat I can get my hands on. They cost maybe a dollar each and often less because they don't want to store them. I bring them home, wash them and toss them into boxes until it starts getting cold. Then I take them to the woman's shelter or to the homeless shelter depending on the sizes.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Irv, you'd be surprised what people will eat. Just check out the dumpster diving reddit board.

Or come hang out behind my store and watch the divers work. I don't even bother trying to chase them away anymore - guess it's because I know firsthand what it's like to work and at times still not have enough out of my check after bills to buy enough groceries to last until the next check.

Our store does, however, donate bakery and bread items to the local food bank on a weekly basis. Not to mention my company has (as of this year) cut ties w/a long standing children's charity we used to raise money for and instead directed their "giving back" focus on feeding the hungry.